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1 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.! 


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AMERICA. | 



NEED OF THE SANCTUARY IN THE CITY. 



A 



SERMON 



PREACHED AT THE DEDICATION 



OF THE 



INDIANA STREET CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, 



SUNDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 12, 1847. 



/ 

By THOMAS B. FOX, 

MINISTER OF THAT CHURCH. 

\ >v 

/ o 
i 

Published by Request. 




BOSTON: 

WM. CROSBY AND H. P. NICHOLS, 
No. Ill Washington Street. 

1847. 

GO 



PRINTED BY ANDREWS AND PRENTISS. 
11 DEVONSHIRE STREET. 



SERMON. 



Ezekiel xlv: 3. 
and in it shall be the sanctuary and the most holy place. 

These words are found in that vision of the 
prophet in which he foresaw the return of the Jews 
from their captivity in Babylon. Describing the divis- 
ion then to be made of the land, he speaks of a por- 
tion to be reserved for religious purposes ; 44 and in 
it," he says, " shall be the sanctuary ": that is, express 
provision shall be made in renewed Jerusalem for the 
temple of Jehovah. This explanation will excuse the 
use i now make of the text ; since we are assembled 
to-night, to set apart, in the city, another " most 
holy place." 

Our churches are designed for public worship and 
Christian instruction. The need of these, here and 
now, in this community, comparatively so prosperous, 
intelligent and moral, is the subject to which 1 ask 
your attention; not on account of its novelty, but on 
account of its fitness to the occasion. 



4 



I wish to freshen the conviction, that where men 
most congregate, where material wealth abounds, 
where intellectual culture is carried to the highest 
point, there, for the preservation of society, for the 
purifying of a fountain-head from which good or bad 
influences stream out over the land, as well as for the 
salvation of individual souls, the necessity for Chris- 
tian temples will continue and increase. 

1 would speak first of worship ; of the public and 
habitual recognition of the presence, power and good- 
ness of God. The tendency of things in a city, is 
not towards devotion. On the contrary, the danger 
of practical atheism is a great and besetting danger. 
Life in paved streets, close-packed dwellings, crowd- 
ed market-places, is banishment, to no small extent, 
from the wonderful creation which so directly reveals 
the Almighty Creator. The structures men rear, shut 
them out from God's own temple, with its measureless 
dome, its mountain-altars, its forest-music, its ocean- 
anthems, its myriad voices and uncounted forms, — 
making manifest, in their beauty and grandeur, the 
all pervading, all controlling, all inspiring Spirit. To 
the hurrying multitude, the things seen and heard in a 
busy metropolis are not suggestive of the presence of 
the Supreme Being. In such a congregation of 
human skill and artificial fabrics, man is deified. His 
edifices conceal the heavens, his pavements crush 
every green thing : and so, standing proudly among 
his own works, he sees and acknowledges only his 
own power. To such forgetful ness of God there is 
a tendency; and it arises not only, as I have inti- 
mated, on account of absence from the more distinct 



5 



manifestations of God in the natural world, but also 
from the fact that time and thought are engrossed by 
objects and pursuits which appeal but feebly to the 
religious sentiment. The trade, the pleasures, the 
fashions, the competitions, the almost exclusive atten- 
tion to material interests, all this, so peculiar to the 
dense town, is more or less unfriendly to heavenward 
aspirations. Notwithstanding all our temples and 
sacred seasons, all the longings and yearnings of the 
heart, which cannot by any circumstances be wholly 
extinguished, — notwithstanding all the sickness, sor- 
row, death that comes at times to force the thoughts 
upward in earnest supplication for the succor earth 
cannot give, worship, fervent and constant worship 
is not characteristic of the restless and thriving mart 
of trade. However much there may be in that mart 
to task intellect, encourage skill, promote taste, de- 
velope energy and enterprise, there is but little to 
inspire devotion. Walk through the thronged streets, 
go where traffic is eager almost to madness, count up 
the daily parades and hourly novelties, visit the abodes 
of refinement and luxury, seek the haunts of igno- 
rance and vice, observe what propensities in man 
are stimulated to exaggerated action, and you will 
soon be brought to fear that were it not for our 
churches and our Sabbaths, worship would be a 
strange work and the voice of prayer a fitful, inaudi- 
ble whisper. Religiousness is not the natural, spon- 
taneous product of a city. The poet's saying, " that 
man made the town," is more than a morbid or 
peevish protest against artificial life. It has a deep 
meaning. The breath of devotion is stifled when 



6 



" we hear only of the actions of men, and behold 
nothing but what human ingenuity has completed." 

Notwithstanding the rich good to be discerned in 
compact cities, where the highest civilization of the 
times displays its splendor, I am sure I am now 
speaking of no imaginary or distant peril, uttering no 
uncalled for word of caution. I stop not to argue 
the unspeakable importance to individual man and to 
society, of a living idea of the living God. The con- 
servative, uplifting, purifying power of true worship is 
self-evident. " The fear of the Lord is the beginning 
of wisdom." The love of God is the source of the 
highest, the most consistent and triumphant virtue. 
As man is humbly conscious that he is the child of the 
Infinite Father, so man gains in dignity and worth 
and begins to know what life is : and as communities 
recognize the Almighty Governor of the universe, so 
communities learn to do justly, to love mercy and to 
prefer the gain of godliness to all other gain. Cer- 
tainly, then, too much cannot be done to keep alive 
the idea of God. Were this alone the office of our 
churches, it would be enough to justify all generous 
support, and large additions to their number ; for 
there is occasion, even in this favored place, to 
cultivate the sentiment of reverence, to make more 
universal the spirit of worship. A tendency to athe- 
ism is to be constantly checked, a progress towards 
materialism to be constantly arrested, by holy days 
with their stillness, and holy places with their open 
doors, to remind men, tempted and exposed every 
hour to earthly-mindedness, that they are spirits, 
made to worship the Infinite Spirit in spirit and in 



7 



truth. I think there is no danger of exaggeration on 
this point. The most hopeful eulogist of the times, 
will not maintain that devotion is a marked character- 
istic — the heavenly influence, pervading, as it should 
pervade, the best civilization of the age. We need 
not inquire into the causes of this defect. We may 
grant that it is an evil, incident to that stage of pro- 
gress through which society is now passing ; that we 
can easily account for and partly excuse the earth- 
ward direction of human thought and desire ; we may 
grant this, for in so doing the peril is only the more 
clearly exposed. In all our science, all our wealth, 
all that surrounds us with physical comfort and luxury, 
all that gives us the adornments of taste, there is little 
of which to be proud, little from which to derive 
hope for the future, if the fire on our altars is burning 
low ; since, then, it must, in the nature of things, be 
that corruption is eating into the foundations of our 
prosperity, and sin and sensuality spreading, as fatal 
poison, throughout our beauty and our splendor. 
" Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman 
waketh but in vain." Athenian skepticism, Roman 
brutality, Corinthian licentiousness, were not confined 
to one age, — have not left the earth. They are as 
eager to-day as ever, to conquer and corrupt any 
community wherein the one true God is not known 
and honored. And here, to say the least, here, 
on this spot, consecrated by the prayers of the Puri- 
tans, sought out and settled by those who thought 
far more of religion than of wealth, far more of piety 
than of ease, there is more than ordinary temptation 
to the too exclusive worship of wealth, which is to be 



8 



resisted, if resisted at all, by augmenting the benign 
influences of the Christian temple ; by measuring off, 
as our growth continues, new portions of ground in 
which shall be the sanctuary. 

Again, our churches are built for Christian instruc- 
tion : and for this, in the city, there is evident and 
constant demand. 

Let me here say what I mean by Christian instruc- 
tion. I do not mean any theological system, any 
creed of a sect as such, but simply that truth revealed 
in the spirit, the life, the words of Jesus of Nazareth, 
which all believers in him substantially accept. I 
mean that truth which makes known our filial relation 
to God, our fraternal relation to man ; which discloses 
the evil of sin, unfolds the unearthly beauty and 
unspeakable desirableness of virtue, declares the 
supremacy of our spiritual nature, and insists upon 
loyalty to that as the one thing needful. I mean that 
idea of life, with the law of duty growing out of it, 
which represents man as born to be an immortal 
seeker after truth, and goodness, and God; and 
regards all experience and discipline as having for 
their final cause, progress towards perfection. I 
mean that doctrine which makes the salvation of the 
soul, by its redemption from iniquity, the right de- 
velopment of all its faculties and affections, the end 
of existence. I mean that doctrine, in all the severity 
of its justice and all the tenderness of its mercy, in all 
the terror of its retribution and all the grace of its 
forgiveness, in all the solemnity of its warnings and 
all the encouragements of its promises, in all its wise 
counsels and all its rich consolations. I mean that 



9 



doctrine which is the absolute and central moral 
truth ; which, as a fountain, nourishes the roots of 
virtue, and sends out refreshment to toil ; which, 
as a sun, sheds light all abroad, resting on moun- 
tain-tops and penetrating dark valleys ; which, as a 
friend, should nowhere be a stranger or an unwel- 
come guest, but rather be greeted in all places as 
an angel-presence ; that doctrine, not as some sup- 
pose, sent only to frown on sin and sympathize with 
sorrow, and point to the heaven beyond the grave 
as the sole depository of its rewards and blessings, 
but designed also to cheer and elevate the dwellers 
on earth, to rejoice with joy, to make goodness a 
privilege, to teach that here and now the kingdom 
of God may be continually coming ; that religion may 
be in honest work as well as in fervent prayer; 
smile by the fireside of home as well as be reverent 
at church ; infuse justice, integrity, purity, peace ; 
come as a sanctifying, cheerful, hopeful spirit into 
all scenes, interests, pleasures and pursuits, that are 
not in themselves false and evil ; I mean that doc- 
trine, in all the varieties of its statement and all the 
modes of its application, when I say, that for the 
explanation and enforcement of Christian instruction 
by special instrumentalities and positive institutions, 
there is peculiar need, in a large and growing city ; 
and that for this specific purpose many spaces must 
be left among our dwellings, workshops and ware- 
houses for the sanctuary. 

This peculiar need may be argued from the ex- 
posure of man, here, to the sensualism, selfishness, 
and earthly-minded ness from which it is the object 
2 



10 



of the Gospel to deliver him. 1 have no disposi- 
tion to take other than hopeful views of society, 
to look on the dark side of things and forget the 
brighter side. And I would not now, to show the 
necessity for the stronger and more universal action 
of Christian truth, refuse to recognize the good of 
every kind which abounds in this metropolis. There 
is no occasion for such one-sidedness, there is no 
occasion for gloom or despondency, when we remem- 
ber how gradual must be the right growth of com- 
munities, as well as the right growth of individuals. 
We may accept the fairest picture that can be drawn 
of the present, we may believe in the most glowing 
prophecies that can be uttered of the future, and yet 
speak strongly of the dangers besetting us, the pressing 
demand for the sanctifying presence and power of 
religion ; because, to keep the picture what it is, and 
to bring on the " better time " which is coming, that 
presence and power are indispensable. Knowledge 
is here ; but ignorance is here also. Virtue abounds ; 
but sin abounds likewise. All that is bad, as well as 
all that is good, sends up hither its representatives. 
In every direction appeals, that are answered to a 
fearful extent, are made to the lower propensities and 
the worst passions ; and man in his luxuries and in his 
deprivations is narrowed, degraded, polluted. There 
is no denying this. Say that the work of the Gospel 
is, mainly, to preach repentance and to redeem from 
sin ; and certainly there is covetousness enough, and 
intemperance enough, and falsehood enough, inequal- 
ity and injustice and wickedness enough, of all kinds, 
secret and open, everywhere present and always 



11 



present, to make this missionary ground, in which the 
laborers are few and the success small, compared with 
what are necessary to give us the right, except as it is 
contrasted with less favored places, to call this a 
Christian city. As we are growing in size, prosperity, 
intelligence and virtue, so also we are growing in 
wickedness. We are getting wealth and luxury at 
no small sacrifice of morals. Sin comes over our 
iron roads, sin is imported by our extended commerce, 
sin is wrought out, a hideous product, among our 
noblest fabrics. This is an obvious fact ; and to some 
extent and for a time, no doubt, an unavoidable fact. 
But it is a fact to which I think we are not sufficiently 
alive. With rapid increase of population and wealth, 
a moral emergency has arisen for which, so intense 
the devotion to material interests, adequate provision 
has not, perhaps, been made. Needful as they are, 
no one imagines, for a moment, that physical force, 
prisons, watchmen, all the devices of selfishness and 
policy, all culture of the intellect even, can alone 
resist the inroads of vice, alone prevent the growth of 
moral corruption. This can be done, even progress- 
ively, only by the prevalence of true ideas of man's 
nature, duty and destiny ; only by fixing his affections 
on right objects, subordinating his passions to con- 
science, and awakening a sense of his accountableness 
to God. The true regenerating and conservative 
force lies back of all visible restraints, all instruments 
of coercion and punishment, even in the unseen soul. 
This soul is to be reached, elevated in its aims, puri- 
fied as to its motives, taught what constitutes its best 
privilege as well as its first duty, and so persuaded to 



12 



consecrate itself unto righteousness. I know that I 
am adverting here to an old truth, which no one ven- 
tures to deny, and which is reiterated day after day. 
But I know, also, that 1 am adverting to a truth which 
ought to be made new and living as a revelation, every 
hour ; because, with all talk of its infinite importance, 
there is constant temptation to neglect its applica- 
tion. We take pride, a just pride it may be, in the 
enlargement of our boundaries, the increase of our 
numbers, the development of our resources, the swell- 
ing of our riches. We are continually telling to our- 
selves how rapidly our prosperity has advanced, and 
how much larger it is yet to be. An ambition to be 
greatest among cities seems to be possessing us : and 
the passion for gain, and aggrandizement through the 
agency of gain, is very nigh becoming a despotic 
passion. Surely, then, with the history of the past to 
instruct us, with the ruins of ancient cities whitening 
on the earth, with what we know of the law of cause 
and effect, there is neither cant nor gloom in saying, 
that amidst our exuberant growth there is a large 
and increasing amount of sensualism, selfishness and 
earthly-mindedness to be held in check, abated, re- 
moved, unless we would have our outward splendor 
become the thin, though gilded, crust of foulest cor- 
ruption. 

I have not the time to go, and there is no need of 
going, into details. All know the amount of vice 
and the allurements to vice which exist and work 
their deadly mischief on the character of the com- 
munity. And as the antagonist of these, as furnishing 
the motives, the principles, the moral strength by 



13 



which alone they can be resisted and diminished, 
there must be a vigorous, earnest, ceaseless inculca- 
tion of Christian truth, appealing to that which is 
highest and best in human nature, saving men from 
sordid worldliness, enervating self-indulgence, unscru- 
pulous covetousness, and low sensuality ; teaching- 
men how, in its right use and right enjoyment, all 
the convenience, garniture and riches of earthly life 
may be made subservient to the spiritual life. 

There is necessity then for continued and increased 
provision for Christian instruction, as a saving power. 
But that necessity may be urged still farther on other 
grounds. It is seen to be very pressing when we 
consider the influence of the city in forming, directing 
and extending public sentiment. The commercial 
capital is a reservoir into which is poured, and from 
which is transmitted, the " spirit of the times ; " the 
centre from which opinion radiates in all directions ; 
heart and conscience sending out, far and wide, 
good or evil impulses and judgments. Here, the 
press is intensely active, and facilities for the recep- 
tion and diffusion of intelligence, thought and senti- 
ment are almost miraculous. Messages of truth or 
falsehood are borne away on the wings of the wind ; 
driven to and fro over iron roads with the swiftness 
of the weaver's shuttle ; sent unseen and unheard, 
at a speed too quick for calculation, along metallic 
threads, stretching, as one has said, like a web-work 
of thrilling, sentient nerves, over the land. Not as 
symbols of war, but as the agents of prosperity, " the 
chariots," laden with the products of the mind and the 
passions, as well as with the products of the land, " rage 



14 



in the streets, jostle one against another in the broad 
ways, seem like torches, run like the lightnings.'' 
This is neither prophecy, nor rhetoric, nor poetry, 
but only a statement of facts. And who can think of 
this statement, and consider it in connection with the 
condition of public sentiment, without admitting what 
1 have already said, that the city is still a missionary 
field for the Gospel. Concede all that can be de- 
manded concerning the benign influence Christianity 
has exerted and is now exerting on the present, and 
how much yet remains for that influence to accom- 
plish. Has not Christian truth still much to do to 
check the competitions and gambling speculations of 
trade ; to speak of justice and mercy and humanity in 
the national councils, where there is such exclusive 
discourse of policy and expediency ; to put an end to 
the foul enormity and egregious absurdity of war ; to 
abolish the dark wrong and glaring incongruities of 
slavery ; to plead for the multitudes lying in poverty, 
ignorance and wickedness ; to promote good-will and 
greater equality among men ? The battle-fields of 
Mexico ; millions of human beings held, bought and 
sold as chattels ; crowded prisons, loathsome alleys, 
where vice brutalizes ; illuminated palaces, where dis- 
sipation corrupts youth and innocence ; costly sacrifi- 
ces of all that is beautiful and true and good, laid on 
Mammon's altars; — are not these, notwithstanding 
all the more numerous and better and brighter charac- 
teristics of the times, that without doubt might be de- 
scribed and ought never to be forgotten, are not these 
undeniable witnesses that the community needs still to 
be reasoned with of righteousness, temperance, and 



15 



judgment to come, until it trembles, — until it is 
persuaded to be not almost, but altogether Christian 
in its principles and its aims ? 

In this connection may we not go even fartker than 
1 have gone. Is there not reason to say, that the 
sentiment of the times, in some of its best directions, 
needs a larger infusion of Christian truth. The spirit 
of humanity, as with fraternal affection it goes about 
doing good, seeking and saving the lost, insisting 
upon a wide and generous application of the second 
great commandment, deserves all praise and heartiest 
sympathy. And yet, may we not fear that it is in 
danger of being, not too much, that is impossible, but 
too exclusively concerned with the outward and phys- 
ical welfare of men, to the neglect of their spirit- 
ual welfare ; that, nobly striving to establish the king- 
dom of heaven upon earth, it fails to give due atten- 
tion to the fact, that the kingdom of heaven must first 
be established within the soul? Philanthropy, as it 
seems to me, may be getting too far separated from 
and too independent on religion and religious institu- 
tions, — rashly divorcing itself from the church. Now, 
I am not prepared to say this is not in a great degree 
the fault of the church. I am not prepared to say 
that the church, busy and contentious about creeds 
and ceremonies, has not neglected the weightier mat- 
ters of the law. I am not prepared to say that the 
church, with its hierarchies, its divisions into warring 
sects, its union with the State, its avarice and ambi- 
tion, has not forgotten that its Founder, when asked 
if he were indeed the true Messiah, pointed to his 
works of benevolence and said, " Go your way and 



16 



tell John what things ye have seen and heard : how 
that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are 
cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the 
poor the Gospel is preached." 1 am not prepared to 
say that the church, as a whole, has not been and is 
not now too indifferent to the claims of humanity, to 
the beautiful and yet searching testimony of that 
Apostle who felt the very beatings of his Master's 
heart, — " and, this commandment have we from 
him, that he who loveth God, love his brother also." 
I am not prepared to say that the church, the visible 
church, has not been thus faulty, though its fault can 
be explained and partly excused. And yet it is also 
true, that our philanthropy was born and nursed in the 
church, and instead of deserting the church should 
remain, helping the church to reform itself, to enlarge 
its sympathies and charities, obtaining from the church 
the piety it needs for its own purity and safety. Un- 
less it does this, it will fail continuously and uniformly 
to recognize in its action man's immortality and de- 
pendence on God ; cease to have the sanctions of 
religion ; cease to believe that except as it aims ulti- 
mately at moral results, its work is comparatively low 
and short-sighted. From the mount of prayer Christ 
came down to pursue his mission of mercy. His 
teachings nowhere justify a separation of the two 
commandments which constitute the whole law ; or 
intimate that either can be kept whilst the other is 
neglected. Moreover, it would not be difficult to 
show that in religion is to be found the chief warrant 
of benevolence ; that man, seen from the Christian 
stand-point, is man claiming love and help and honor ; 



17 



because from that stand-point alone are man's dignity 
and value to be seen and comprehended. The worth 
of each individual, the worth even of the vilest sinner, 
is taught by the Gospel as it is taught nowhere else. 
The doctrine of the brotherhood of man is a de- 
duction from the doctrine of the Fatherhood of God ; 
and philanthropy, to be wise and elevated in its action, 
must have piety for its source. It is by the light of 
Christianity, therefore, that the reformer is to carry 
forward his labors of love, if he would have them of 
the highest order, and enduring in their results. 
Where, then, as in the city, reform is most busy with 
its theories and earnest in its operations, there, to 
have it careful for the spiritual as well as the material 
well-being of men, should Christian truth be promul- 
gated, and the charity, kindled at the altar, go forth 
as the holy product of communion with God. 

But I will not pursue this argument farther, and 
need not perhaps have pursued it thus far, since the 
demand for Christian instruction may be presented by 
bare allusion to the fact, — that a city is composed of 
men. Man is here ; man the sinner, the sufferer, the 
mortal and the immortal. Man is here, to solve by 
thought, by fearful inward and outward experiences, 
the problem of life. Man is here, with the perilous 
gift of moral freedom ; with the conscience, that can 
so make his bosom a heaven or a hell ; with affections 
bringing, as they are pure or perverted, such intense 
happiness or such indescribable misery. Man is here, 
with his religious nature, his ability for righteousness, 
his capacity to seek his Maker and Father. Man is 
here, to make, only for a few years, one of the crowd : 
3 



18 



to rejoice, and toil, and suffer, whilst moving swiftly 
and more swiftly on to the tomb and to eternity. 
Man is here, born to trouble as well as to joy ; in his 
careless childhood and buoyant youth ; at the bridal ; 
by the hearth of his home ; seeking subsistence and a 
name ; shattered by infirmities ; lying motionless in 
his coffin ; buried in his grave. Yes ! man is here, to 
be, by the unalterable laws of the moral universe, in 
the way of salvation or in the way of perdition. In 
our statistics we speak coldly of the population as 
composed of a hundred thousand souls ! Put the full 
meaning into that phrase. Take only one of those 
souls. Imagine all that may come into its conscious- 
ness, shape and color its career, be its life on earth 
and its retribution hereafter ; see that soul as God has 
made it, and for what God has made it ; then think 
that a hundred thousand such souls make up this city, 
throng these streets, inhabit these dwellings, give and 
receive, by incessant action and reaction, all the good 
or evil that here prevails ; think of this, and exag- 
gerate, if you can, the importance of Christian in- 
struction ; — or the demand for the sanctuary, as 
conducive to that instruction. 

I have thus glanced at the relation of the church 
to the city, to infer from it the necessity which 
exists for increasing the efficiency and the number 
of our religious institutions, that the influence of 
Christianity may be made stronger and more uni- 
versal. The spirit of the Gospel should pervade 
this community ; and to that end the Gospel, by 
right arrangements, should be kept very close to 
men, in all their relations and pursuits — offered as 



I!) 



freely as possible. A great work is now going on for 
the physical, and, indirectly, for the moral good also 
of our citizens. From a natural reservoir, at a 
distance, we are constructing the costly viaduct of 
masonry. Our streets are broken up to bury beneath 
them sixty miles of iron pipe, from which almost 
numberless smaller tubes are branching out into our 
houses. This is cheerfully done at great cost; and 
already there is joy at what is to follow ; already 
the day is impatiently anticipated, when an abundant 
supply of that pure element, so essential to comfort, 
health, life itself, shall flow into the city as a com- 
mon blessing. There is something sublime in this 
grand undertaking, this union of labor, capital and 
science working amicably together, to bring com- 
fort and luxury to congregated thousands of human 
beings. Is there not also something in it suggestive 
of a higher duty ? Provision for an animal want, — 
of what avail in the end will that be if unaccompanied 
by equal provision for our moral wants ? " The living 
water," — ought not that to be kept flowing freely 
in every direction, enter every dwelling, reach every 
needy soul, so that it may drink, if it will, and never 
thirst again? With all our growth, then, in otner 
respects, there should be a corresponding growth 
in our sanctuaries and most holy places; and these, 
moreover, should be made various in their kind, 
diverse in their arrangements, so as to meet the 
condition and tastes of all. 

I would be very careful not to exaggerate the 
importance of a cherished belief; but consistency 
requires me to express, here, the deep conviction 



20 



I entertain, in common with many others, that the 
time has come, when liberal Christians especially, 
if they would do their whole duty, put their simple 
views of the Gospel within the reach of those who 
need them, reap their share of the harvest, which 
increases every day, should open some churches, dif- 
fering somewhat in the mode of their support from 
those which already exist. The world, in its secular 
affairs, in its very pleasures, is giving significant hints. 
The principle now acted upon on railroads and other 
conveyances for travel, at places of amusement, in 
our cheap literature and cheap postage, in many 
kinds of business, is to obtain the largest number of 
purchasers by a system of low prices. Why should 
not something analagous to this principle, potent for 
evil as well as good, be used directly in the service of 
virtue and religion ? Why not make education, for 
the moral nature, nearly as accessible as education 
for the intellect? 

There is nothing in the Gospel, as we understand it, 
which forbids changes in the modes of its administra- 
tion, called for by the changes in the state of society. 
On the contrary, since God has in a great measure 
left the spread of the Gospel to the care of human 
contrivance and human effort, I apprehend it to be 
the duty of Christians to see that religious institutions 
keep pace with the times, and are ordered and sus- 
tained in a way to meet the wants of the times. The 
problem to be constantly solved is, how to bring 
Christianity into contact with the greatest number of 
souls. One solution of this problem, so far as visible 
means are concerned, will not work well for all ages 



21 



and in all places. In some countries, an established 
church, may, for a while, be the best thing that can be 
had. For a season, and for a portion of the commu- 
nity at all seasons, public worship may be most con- 
veniently and easily supported by reference to the 
distinctions of property. But no single organization 
can exhaust our resources, or be made once for all, 
and universal in its fitness. It is because of the lati- 
tude and variety allowed in regard to the forms 
through which it may be expressed, that Christian 
truth can act in all climes and upon all social condi- 
tions. There is no one fixed pattern for the Christian 
sanctuary like that ordained for the Jewish tabernacle, 
since the former differs from the latter in being design- 
ed for the whole world and not for a single land and 
a selected nation, in view of this truth, is not a some- 
what new state of things beginning to exist among 
ourselves ; calling upon us, as I have suggested, if we 
would retain our place and our share of influence, to 
add to our religious institutions others differing some- 
what in the style of their management? Excellent as 
the present system may on the whole and for the 
present be, good as are the reasons given for its 
continuance by a portion of the community, it cer- 
tainly has defects, operates unequally, is necessarily 
somewhat exclusive. Why not do then what can 
easily be done to improve it by the introduction of 
new forms ? 

"[Inexpensive churches, in addition to those which 
wealth builds up beautiful and costly, as noble struc- 
tures and fitting ornaments to the city ; unexpensive 
churches, of our own faith too, — that faith which 5 



notwithstanding the honest doubts of some of its 
friends, I believe to be adapted to the widest spread, 
peculiarly fitted to attract, convert and save many to 
whom it has not yet been fairly offered, even here, in 
its dearest home ; unexpensive churches, comporting 
with the simplicity of that Gospel which the common 
people heard gladly, and corresponding with our free 
and equal institutions ; unexpensive churches, which 
those of moderate means, who, as facts begin to show, 
are at no very distant period to be mainly the in- 
habitants of the city proper, can easily sustain ; 
unexpensive churches of this description, working 
harmoniously and without opposition in connection 
with other churches more richly endowed, are not 
these demanded at our hands, if we would act consist- 
ently with the views we profess to take of the Gospel ? 
It seems so to me. Among the whole body of believers, 
1 know of no denomination more bound to seek, by 
liberal expenditure and wise economy, the spread of 
Christianity. If there is any truth in what I have said 
of the necessity for public worship and Christian 
instruction; if we believe that pulpits, our pulpits, 
occupied by ministers making no claims to superior 
wisdom or worth, but moved by their own sense of 
duty and the choice of their fellows to be servants of 
the people for Christ's sake, and do what may be 
given them to do in Christ's cause ; if we believe that 
such pulpits, from which the living voice shall address 
those to whom the cares of business, constant toil, the 
hurry, excitements, pleasures of a city life leave little 
leisure, ofTer few inducements for study and thought 
of those things which concern their highest welfare ; 



23 



if we believe that such pulpits, not the sole agents, 
but important, among the many agents God employs, 
to diffuse moral and religious truth are wanted, 
wanted now and here, — then surely they ought to 
be multiplied, and bring within the sphere of their 
action all classes and conditions of men ; otherwise, 
it will remain to be shown with what sincerity and 
strength of conviction we hold to the belief, that 
our conception of Christianity approaches more near- 
ly than any other the Christianity of Christ. 

This edifice, to the extent circumstances permitted, 
is a partial, approximate attempt to realize some of 
the views I have expressed. To the success of our 
work it is important that our plan and position should 
be distinctly understood, — for much remains to be 
accomplished ; and were it not for the hope of farther 
sympathy and aid, for cooperation on the part of those 
who think, with us, that measures ought to be taken 
to have some of our churches moderate in cost and 
equal in the arrangements for their support, — were it 
not for this hope, we should hardly have persevered to 
this hour, or ventured upon the services of this occa- 
sion. There is no large congregation now waiting to 
become the regular occupants of these pews ; they are 
designed to gather a society rather than to accom- 
modate one already formed. Few in numbers, we 
have left the chapel which has been so kindly loaned 
us as a place of worship, with the belief that with 
a convenient church, exclusively for our own use, 
we can more fairly try, and more completely exe- 
cute, our cherished purpose. Our judgment in this 
respect has been sanctioned by those whose opinions 



24 



are entitled to higher regard than our own. And it is 

now my pleasant duty to acknowledge the assistance 
by which we have been so generously encouraged 
and strengthened ; and to say, that this sanctuary 
stands here, in its simple beauty, the result, in part, of 
loans and donations made by those in and out of the 
society, who readily answered the appeal in behalf of 
a church of this description. It stands here, I am also 
bound to add, owing in no small degree to the dis- 
interested perseverance of the builder, who has done 
his work very much as a labor of love, and not for 
personal gain. May he, and all other friends, find 
their reward in the consciousness that they have been 
permitted to contribute towards a Christian work, 
which shall, according to its ability, be a blessing to 
this community, when the places that now know them 
shall know them no more. How far the plan has 
been well conceived, whether we occupy, as we think 
we do, ground hitherto vacant, or nearly so, and shall 
be sustained as those making a useful addition to the 
Christian institutions of this city, the future must of 
course determine. Meantime, with trust and hope 
that shall rise above solicitude and fear, we have 
come to the solemn consecration. 

And now may the prayers which have ascended for 
the first time from this new altar, be answered, and 
this house consecrated, henceforth, a Christian sanc- 
tuary. Reverently we dedicate it to the Infinite 
Creator, the Ruler, the Protector, the Father of all. 
Here may thankful hearts praise His goodness. Here 
may contrite hearts seek His mercy. Here may sor- 
rowing hearts obtain His consolation. Here may 



25 



inspiration from above descend to cheer despondency, 
to strengthen weakness, to shed light and peace and 
joy into many bosoms. We dedicate this house to 
the One God, to whom alone supreme homage be- 
longs, to whom alone supreme homage should be 
rendered. We dedicate this house to God, in whom 
we live and move and have our being ; to the known 
God, — known by the revelations of His works, His 
providence and His word, as the living and ever 
present God, the God of all power and might, the 
God of all goodness and love. We dedicate it hum- 
bly to Him who asks not for burnt-offerings and costly 
sacrifices ; to Him, who, as he marshals the shining 
hosts above, and listens to archangel choirs, watches 
also the sparrow's fall, hears the sigh of his poorest 
child on earth, — is not far from every one of us. 
" God, that made the world, and all things therein, 
seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth 
not in temples made with hands." Yet, as His spirit 
pervades the universe, so from Sabbath to Sabbath, as 
His children gather under its roof, may His presence 
fill this house, His blessing rest upon it, to keep it a 
most holy place, until its walls return to the dust. 

We dedicate this church to the truth as it is in 
Jesus, — the uncorrupted Gospel of Christ. In its 
own simplicity and its own power, with its own simple 
and significant rites, may that Gospel be here received ; 
that Gospel, the day-spring from on high, glad tidings 
to all people, giving glory to God, promoting peace 
on earth and good-will toward men ; that Gospel, re- 
newing the heart, inviting the prodigal to come to 
himself, and go to his Father, — comforting those who 
4 



26 



mourn, guiding those who rejoice, conquering death, 
bringing immortality to light, profitable for the life 
that now is, full of promise of the life that is to come ; 
may that Gospel, with its united lessons of piety and 
humanity, its messages of truth, holiness, liberty and 
love, be the Gospel taught here as the standard which 
men should strive to reach, the law of duty men 
should labor to keep, the spirit of devotion and charity 
with which men should ask to be inspired. 

And, by whomsoever prayer shall be made, praises 
sung, the word of truth spoken, — in however much 
of weakness or imperfection, — may He whose power 
knows no limits, whose mercy cannot be exhausted, 
overrule and bless the services that shall from time to 
time be offered ; so that this Christian sanctuary shall 
become to many souls a portal to that " temple not 
made with hands, eternal in the heavens." 



ORDER OF EXERCISES. 



I. VOLUNTARY. 

II. PRAYER. 

BY REV. F. D. HUNTINGTON. 



III. SELECTIONS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

BY REV. E. PEABODY. 

IV. CHANT. 



V. DEDICATORY PRAYER. 

BY REV. S. K. LOTHROP. 



VS. HYMN. 

O Thou, whose own vast temple stands 

Built over earth and sea, 
Accept the walls that human hands 

Have raised to worship thee. 

Lord, from thine inmost glory send, 

Within these courts to bide, 
The peace that dwelleth without end 

Securely by thy side. 

May erring minds that worship here 

Be taught the better way, 
And they who mourn, and they who fear, 

Be strengthened as they pray. 



28 

May faith grow firm, and love grow warm, 

And pure devotion rise, 
While round these hallowed walls the storm 

Of earth-born passion dies. 



VII. SERMON. 

BY REV. THOMAS B. FOX. 



VIII. PRAYER. 

BY REV. CHARLES F. BARNARD. 

IX. DOXOLOGY. 

" From all that dwell below the skies," &c. 

X. BENEDICTION. 



Note. — The Indiana Street Church has been built for the purpose of 
carrying forward an experiment, which was begun in the Warren Street 
Chapel, viz. : the formation of a Congregational Society, by which the priv- 
ileges of public worship shall be enjoyed, on equal terms and at as small an 
expense as may be found practicable. In this church there is no classifica- 
tion or sale of pews : and the seats are rented at an uniform rate. The pres- 
ent arrangements are as follows : 

1. To those taking seats for a year, $3 the year for each seat. 

2. To those taking seats for three months, $1 per quarter for each seat. 

3. No seat rented for a less time than three months. 

4. The payments quarterly, in advance. 

5. Families and others, when it is desired, can have permanent seats 
assigned them. 

6. Gentlemen, hiring seats, may become members of the Society, and 
entitled to vote, by signing the By-Laws. 

For further information, inquiry may be made of any member of the 
Standing Committee, or of the Pastor of the Society. 

Those disposed to aid in the establishment of a society of the character 
here briefly described, can do so by donations, or by taking shares in the 
church : the price of a share being fifty dollars. 




V 



